view from a bard

Friday, January 10, 2014

Gray evening rain on the bus windows
and everything seen through a gray filter:
gray people,
traffic lights three shades of gray
blinking in the spray.
A woman walks her dog
through a graveyard,
the dog props its leg against a marker,
pissing on the stone.
I arrive at the Care Home,
the night pierced by
streetlights, headlights, porch lights,
the night falls all over us.

down the hallway,
he drinks his father's wine.
Out of work and needing a shave
Albert waits for a single day
that will make sense by nightfall,
that will listen to his voice
muttering some kind of prayer.
His father drinks at the bar until closing,
then drinks at his buddy's place till dawn.
His father will arrive
when the sun spreads up the sides of houses,
he will be a pair of thick legs
wobbling down the hall,
a lump falling into a twin bed.
And then Albert will sleep
in a darkness blacker
than the nights he runs from.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

We all share poverty:
winos sleeping on concrete,
children with weekend fathers.
But the sun strolls over the horizon
and steam lifts off the frost
floats high and mingles
with the blue flower of sky.
The sun is a pulsing heart
offering the earth life.
To wake to bright sunlight
and open a window to the weather
is a gift.
That gift remains
as the sun stays put,
while we on the ground
turn away again and again.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The people who give a fuck
are the only ones to love.
They've been in the minority
all their lives.
When they need it:
lend them money,
let them sleep on your couch,
listen to their problems.
We've got to stick together,
the buddy system,
all we have is each other.

About Me

David Elsey has published many poems, many stories, and a few essays, in magazines throughout America. He has also published four books of poetry and fiction; GRAY LIGHT, Smellfeast Press, FINDING EVIDENCE, Quiet Lion Press, GREEN WATER TOWER, Quiet Lion Press, and ALWAYS THERE, Quiet Lion Press. The writings on this blog are dedicated to the memory of the author's uncle Johnny. CONTACT the author at dbelsey2001@gmail.com